Eight Months Later, Harry’s Still in Our Thoughts

You’re putting together a puzzle, and you’re just about finished. The whole puzzle is put together, but you realize that one piece is missing. You look in the box, and it’s not there.

From walk-off wins, to complete games, to winning a National League pennant, the 2009 season was filled with many memories. Even with all the success, Phillies baseball was missing something: their voice.

The Phillies organization did a terrific job remembering their late broadcaster. During the National League East celebration, the team rushed to left field, showering the “HK” sign with beer. “That ball is outta here!” was played after each home run, and “High Hopes” blasted after each win. Harry Kalas was inducted into the Wall of Fame, and the broadcast team shared their fondest memories of Kalas all year long. All these tributes were heartwarming and classy, but you can’t help but wonder: “how would HK have called it?”

During the World Series, Scott Franzke called Chase Utley’s homer run: “…and as our friend ‘HK’ would say, you are the man!” Franzke has done a fantastic job this season, and that call was perfect. It showed that eight months later, Harry is still in all of our thoughts.

“Outta here!” and “struck ’em out!” are missed, but just as much as “no runs, no hits, no errors, and none left.” On many occasions, what happened on the field was remembered by his calls. There wasn’t a day that went by that I didn’t think of Harry. Phillies baseball wasn’t quite the same, but Harry would have been proud of this team.

Harry was the Phillies missing piece of the puzzle. He is missed very much, but I am thankful that I was able to listen to him over the years. HK will always be in our hearts, and always reminding us to have “High Hopes!”